Spotlight: Pakistan Radical cleric killed

Ghazi's campaign for Islamic state angered Musharraf

Pakistani commandos battled Islamic militants holed up in a radical mosque Tuesday, killing an extremist cleric and dozens of his die-hard followers in a bloody assault that ignited fiery protests and calls for revenge by Islamic extremists.

Many dead

The army said more than 50 militants and eight soldiers died during the initial fighting in Islamabad, and gunfire and explosions could still be heard after nightfall.

Cleric killed

Among the dead was pro-Taliban cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi, who had been the public face of a campaign by the Red Mosque leaders to use their students to impose puritanical Islamic rule in the capital.

Siege failed

Elite troops attacked the mosque after a nearly weeklong siege failed to induce militants to surrender. The government had sought to avoid a battle, fearing heavy bloodshed would worsen public discontent with President Gen. Pervez Musharraf. He is opposed by Islamic hard-liners for allying with the U.S., and angered many Pakistanis by trying to oust the chief justice.

-- Associated Press

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From our press services

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Once respected by the Pakistani establishment, the smooth-talking pro-Taliban cleric killed in the mosque siege Tuesday pushed authorities too far with a sometimes bizarre drive to enforce strict Islamic law in the capital.

Making of a radical

Musharraf critic: When a student, he was regarded as a moderate Muslim, but Abdul Rashid Ghazi, 43, was radicalized by the assassination of his cleric father in 1998. After Pakistan's president allied with the U.S. following the Sept. 11 terror attacks, Ghazi emerged as an increasingly outspoken critic of Gen. Pervez Musharraf's government.

Militant links: With his elder brother, Abdul Aziz, the Red Mosque's chief cleric, Ghazi cultivated links with Islamic militants and often lashed out at Pakistan's support of the U.S.-led war against terrorist groups -- tapping an antipathy shared by many people in this conservative Muslim nation.

Fatwa: A 2004 fatwa, or religious edict, declaring that funeral prayers should not be offered for Pakistani soldiers who died fighting al-Qaida set him on a collision course with the government.

Vigilantes

Direct challenge: Then a vigilante campaign launched by the mosque's leaders this year to impose Islamic social law in Islamabad mocked Musharraf's claim to be combatting religious extremists and directly challenged the government's authority.

Taliban-style: Stick-wielding student supporters of Ghazi kidnapped alleged prostitutes and police officers and they warned vendors against selling music and movies, in a brash but largely symbolic attempt to impose Taliban-style rules.

Abductions: Their actions caused little physical harm, but the abduction last week of seven Chinese at an acupuncture clinic that the students claimed was a brothel proved a diplomatic embarrassment for China, a key ally of Pakistan.

Led to attack: The kidnappings were followed by a day of gunbattles between the militants and security forces, triggering a nearly weeklong military siege that culminated in the army's attack on the mosque before dawn Tuesday.

Question, answer

McClatchy Newspapers' Tom Lasseter was one of the last Western reporters to interview Ghazi. Lasseter asked Ghaza what he wanted to accomplish:

"We don't care if Musharraf remains or not -- we don't want to change the face, we want to change the system. The system has failed; it is not working. We want to abolish this system; an Islamic system should be enforced."